Ruritan Playbook

Ruritan Playbook

Chapter 4 - Starting a New Club (Adult) Ruritan Members should always consider not only who will make a good Ruritan member but also what communities would benefit from having their own Ruritan Club. There are different ways to approach people in these communities to sow the Ruritan seed. One method is to identify a particular need in that community which an active Ruritan club could address and then seek out people interested in taking on the challenge of the need by starting a Ruritan club. Another method to identify a community which has no Ruritan presence is to find out who the local leaders or key people are and approach them about starting a Ruritan club there. Arrange to have a community-wide meeting and advertise in some method to reach as many people as possible. Speak to local people about what Ruritan is and how it can help their community. Let them know of date/time/location of the planned meeting where they can get more detailed information. Detailed information can be found in the “General Charter Information” document on the Ruritan National Web site. This document will give you some specific details of this process, what to cover during this meeting, and what documents to have on hand. Other documents can also be found on the Ruritan National web site: Under the ‘Growth’ icon on the Member Resources Page, this list of documents helps explain Ruritan and the beginning steps to organizing a Ruritan club. • Community Member Survey Postcard • Growth Brochure • Ruritan Branding – PowerPoint presentation on advertising Ruritan • Ads Color - Four Week Campaign Option • Ruritan Is…. Pocket Card • Charter General Ruritan Brochure • General Charter Information - Organizing a Ruritan Club (also in Club and District Officers’ Handbook) • Charter Application Remember, you are never alone when creating a new Ruritan Club. If you desire, seek help from other clubs, Zones, Districts, and National. There are plenty of people happy to help. A new club is officially recognized and added to the list of clubs upon receipt of the Charter Application and $50 charter fee. Once the Charter application and $50 charter fee is sent to National, the club can start recruiting members. The members’ names will be added to the charter at the charter night meeting. Each newly chartered club shall close its charter list within 90 days of the charter meeting and the secretary of the new club shall immediately forward to Ruritan National the completed charter list.

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